Continued support is requested for an interdepartmental training program in genetics of basic cell functions. The emphasis is on rigorous training focused on studies of basic cell processes, such as chromosome replication and segregation, cell growth and division, regulation of gene expression, cellular differentiation, and host-parasite interactions. This training program has been the beneficiary of continuous support from NIGMS since 1975. In the present application, support is requested for six predoctoral trainees per year for a period of five years. The 19 members of the training faculty are from the Departments of Molecular Biology and Microbiology, Biochemistry, Pathology, Dermatology, and Medicine. They are highly interactive and dedicated to close, joint supervision and mentoring of graduate students. Their laboratories are fully equipped for modern molecular genetics research and have direct access to more sophisticated equipment in shared facilities. Past trainees include leading researchers in academia and industry. The training program is administered by the Graduate Program in Molecular Microbiology of the Sackler School of Graduate Biomedical Sciences. Starting with a pool of about 140 applicants, the graduate program annually admits 7-8 new students, of whom 70-80% are typically eligible for training grant support. The program has been successful in attracting an unusual number of students from underrepresented minority groups, all of whom have been supported by this training grant. Of the 167 students admitted since the inception of the graduate program in 1964, 108 have graduated with the Ph.D. degree and 9 with the MS degree. Forty-one students are currently in training. Seven of the current students are from underrepresented minority groups. Nearly all graduates of the program have obtained high-quality postdoctoral appointments and are still active as researchers, as teachers, or in allied fields. Entering students take required courses in Genetic Analysis and Biochemistry and pursue 9-week rotation projects in four different laboratories. At the end of the first academic year, they choose a thesis supervisor and begin thesis research. Student progress during the first year is monitored closely by the faculty as a whole and thereafter by the thesis advisory committee. In the second and third years, the students complete required and elective coursework and prepare a research proposal (unrelated to their thesis topic) as a Ph.D. qualifying examination. All students are required to complete a seminar course in scientific ethics.